Fiber Optic Ring Around Africa Planned

NEW YORK, NY, June 8 -- Africa ONE, an independent telecommunications network, announced that it will link the countries of Africa to one another and to growing global broadband telecommunication networks. S.G. Fassoulis, chairman of Africa ONE, Ltd., reports that the network will form a self-healing ring around the continent of Africa and will connect more than two dozen coastal-country landing points.
Africa ONE, Ltd., which is owned by Columbia Technologies of New Jersey and organized under the laws of Liberia with agency operations in New York City, will develop and own the undersea fiber optic system. Lucent Technologies, the preferred equipment and software supplier for the network, will provide technical support and project resources. Subsidiaries of Global Crossing Ltd. will be awarded contracts valued at over $100 million to provide project management and undersea construction.